Just Take One
by rogue-scholar07
Summary: In the spirit of Haloweeen, I have written a oneshot. The Brotherhood teach Wanda the finer points of scaring the begeezus out of someone.


**Disclaimer:**** Don't own a thing.**

**In the spirit of Halloween, here's a bit of nonsense. The Brotherhood boys teach Wanda the finer points of scaring the begeezus out of somebody.**

**Just Take One**

Wanda walked downstairs to see the boys decorating not only the living room, but the front porch also. This perplexed her a great deal, seeing as how Pietro was running around with a pumpkin on his head.

"Hey, Wanda." Lance said. "You gonna help us or just stand there?"

"Where did you loons find this stuff and what is the occasion?" She asked.

"Mystique had some stuff stashed in the attic, but the rest we 'borrowed' from other people." Pietro said.

"By people, we mean principal Kelly." Lance elaborated. "Now do you want to help or not?"

"What is this for?" Wanda asked. "Why all the pumpkins and masks and things?"

"It's Halloween." Fred said.

"What?" Wanda blinked.

"You don't know about Halloween?" Pietro asked. "You know, Father took us trick-or-treating?"

"No." Wanda said. "I don't remember anything like that."

"Then we can teach you about it!" Todd beamed. "Should we start with costumes or pranks?"

"Or egging someone's house." Lance said.

"You don't do that until after dark, though." Freddy said. "Why don't we become living statues?"

"Do what now?" Pietro blinked.

"You know." Fred explained. "Dress up like a scarecrow or a zombie or something, have a bowl of candy with a sign on it, and when someone reaches in, jump up and scare them."

"Sounds stupid." Pietro said. "I prefer vandalism."

"I want to try it." Wanda said.

"Okay!" Todd shouted. "We can do that then!"

"I wonder how many masks are in this thing…" Fred said.

"Not many." Lance said. "And no, I am not going to wear a paper sack!"

"We can go to the dollar store." Todd said. "They've usually got some good stuff."

"And we certainly have enough old dirty clothes around here to make a costume from." Wanda commented. "Let's go."

* * *

Two hours and a scared store manager later, Lance, Wanda, and Todd returned from the dollar store. "Does that man always sing 'Tiny Bubbles'?" Wanda asked as the trio walked inside.

"Only when he's stressed out." Lance shrugged. "Hey! We're back!"

"Oooh! Goody! What'd ya bring me?" Pietro gabbed as he zoomed into the room and poked his head into the different sacks. Wanda rolled her eyes.

"They're for the plot tonight, not your vandalism." She hissed.

"But just in case, we brought you some eggs." Lance added, handing over a carton. Pietro squealed with glee.

"Okay, now how do I learn to scare people?" Wanda asked.

"First step is to come up with a creepy costume." Todd said. "That usually ain't too hard. The tricky part is stayin' completely still when people ain't around. They see you move, an' the gig's up, yo."

"Although without a convincing costume, they get wary." Fred said. "You have to look like a prop, not a person."

"Okay." Wanda said warily. "How do I do that?"

"We'll show ya." Todd grinned.

* * *

By nightfall, Wanda was well prepared for her role as a human zombie. All she needed were some old clothes, a wig, and a ton of makeup to go from goth girl to bewitched prop. Now, she took her post at the front porch, a bowl of candy perched in her lap, along with a sign that read "just take one". Todd crouched by the steps, guised as a mummy, ready to pounce on anyone who dared disturb their carved pumpkins.

Most of the neighborhood kids didn't grab more than one piece of candy, as all of them knew that mutants lived in the house and feared the reprocussions of disobeying their rules. At around ten, however, some older teens decided to press her. Among their ranks was none other than Duncan's cronie Bruce Weaver. She smirked inwardly. This would be fun.

"Hey, isn't that the mutie place?" One boy asked.

"Sure is." Bruce replied. "Wonder if anyone's home?"

"Who cares? Let's just smash some decorations and steal the candy bowl." Another boy exclaimed. "Let 'em know we don't want 'em here!"

"That's the spirit!" Bruce grinned. "Let's go ruin some mutie decor."

Unfortunately for Bruce, Wanda and Todd had other plans. When Bruce came after the candy with his entire hand, Wanda screeched "What part of 'just take one' did you not understand!"

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" The football player screamed, tripping backward into Mystique's shrubs.

And when the other two boys attacked the pumpkins, Todd hopped to life.

"Leave those gourds alone, intruder!" He shouted in a deep voice. The two turned to hit him with a bat, but the smaller boy slimed one and easily dodged the other's punch.

"Stand still so I can pound you, mutie!" The remaining teen shouted.

"Leave at once!" Wanda screamed, powering up a hex bolt. Bruce tripped over his own shoelaces. The one attacking Todd dropped the bat in favor of keeping his hands and ran for the hills.

"No way am I stickin' around here, man." Bruce paled, stumbling away from the scene. The slime-bound jock still rolled in the grass. Wanda used her powers to remove the slime, and the scared boy bolted from the scene.

"That was fun!" Todd grinned under his wraps.

"Did you get that?" Wanda shouted to the door. Fred poked his head out.

"Yep. Got it all on tape. Although I don't think Mystique's gonna like what happened to her bushes."

"She can deal with it when she comes back from vacation." Wanda waved. "Now both of you get back into position! I want to do that again!"

"By George, I think she's got it." Fred said as Pietro and Lance pulled into the driveway.

"Where have you been, Yo?" Todd asked as the two bigger boys ran up to the steps.

"It was awesome!" Pietro started. "You should have seen Kelly's face! Oooh, and Matthews is not gonna like what happened to his car! Didn't get to Baldy's place, though."

"Pietro, if we ever need something, Xavier's got it." Lance said. "I don't want to tick him off."

"Well, aren't you mature." Wanda feigned. "Now what happened to Matthews?"

"We egged his car!" Pietro said excitedly. "You know! Blue sporty coupe with the convertible top?

"Where was Matthews?" Todd asked.

"Working." Lance shrugged. "That's what made it so easy to get near his ride."

"And what about our darling principal?" Wanda asked.

"Toilet papered inside his own house!" Lance grinned. "We hid in the bushes to watch. Man, the look on his face..."

"It's ten-thirty, guys." Fred announced. "I think all the trick-or-treaters are gone for the night."

"Aww." Wanda pouted. "Can't I scare just one more kid?"

"Sorry." Lance said. "But most parents have their kids home by now to keep them from being kidnapped. You'll just have to wait until April fools like the rest of us."

"Fine." The dark haired hex-caster sighed, pulling her ask off.

"Hey, you guys are gonna enjoy the video we shot tonight." Todd perked up as the quintet of mutants walked inside.

**I hope you'll forgive Wanda's OOCness. Happy Halloween, all!**


End file.
